Declan Rice's club-record arrival at Arsenal for £100m is another sign of the club's intent.
For three-quarters of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign, only good news attached itself to Arsenal.
With so little expectation, they emerged as the team most likely to end Manchester City's domestic dominance.
The Gunners dropped only five points before the World Cup and, after a stutter in February when they picked up just one point from three matches, went on a run of seven wins in a row, culminating in the 4-1 victory against Leeds on 1 April.
It meant Mikel Arteta's men were eight points clear with nine games left, albeit City had a game in hand.